


Blank Slates

by GuyThatExists



Category: Drawn to Life (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, a lot of characters, and i hope yall are too, big story, but im proud of how this one turned out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 20:48:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29797704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuyThatExists/pseuds/GuyThatExists
Summary: Where do you go if your maker decides you're no longer needed? Who attends to you while you don't exist? What happens when someone who doesn't exist suddenly gains awareness? Follow Rocko, Fiora, Lambert, and Jinxy as they discover the truth about their world and those in it.Wiki: https://drawntolife.wiki/en/User:GuyThatExists/Blank_Slates
Kudos: 2





	1. Inscription

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, Guy here! This story deals with a lot of the cut and unused content from the Drawn to Life series, so to get a better grasp of these characters and their appearances, I ask that you take a look at this page and its subpages before reading. Thanks!
> 
> https://drawntolife.wiki/en/Unused_%26_Removed_Features

* * *

Rocko looked around as the village he knew and loved began to fade out of view. “No! The lava switch! What if the Hero? What if the Hero needs to… what if the… what… w… wel… welcome… back hero, would you like me to flip the lava switch… welcome back hero, would you like me to flip the lava switch… welcome back hero,” Rocko’s voice trailed off as he fell into a grey abyss, his color muting as he sunk.

“Looks like we lost another one. Poor guy.”

“Maybe we can send this one back up. Give him another shot in the next game.”

“You know the rules, Paint. If they fall, we keep ‘em. Dev’s orders.”

“…” The Four Guardians guided Rocko’s body to the ground, as his eyes began to close, and his mumbling slowed to a halt. The Guardians left Rocko’s body to dissolve into the void and moved over to the next being who fell into the empty, white expanse, repeating the process for every being that passed.

* * *

** Four Years Later **

* * *

“Attention Guardians!” A voice boomed from the void, with no discernable source. “We have decided to bring back one cut character for the next game! The four of you will decide who it is, and report back to your two screeners. Thank you for your services!” The two screeners floated down from above the Guardians. They both took the form of a blue aura, each with one distinct accessory.

“Alright people lets go through this shortlist! We only have thirteen characters to go through, so let’s make this quick!” yelled Willham, the screener with a pair of glasses. The Four Guardians ran onto their pedestals as a screen appeared in front of them. A picture of a human was displayed with a name above it.

**NOLAN**

“Alright! First up we have Nolan! Scrapped without a personality, but he did have a best friend named Alana, who we’ll be getting to shortly.”

“Is it possible to skip the ones without a personality this time?” Flash, the elected leader of the Guardians moved her pedestal forward. She wore a black reporters hat and a red jacket. In around her neck was a leather strap, holding up a vintage camera with a flash attached to its side. “I talked to some of the devs and according to them, this game needs to get out as soon as possible.”

“As much as I would like, we can’t skip over anyone.” Mayo, the second screener, looked over her hypothetical shoulder at a dark hole in the void, her earrings dangling with her movements. “We all know that it has the power to destroy us, should it see fit.” All six beings looked towards the hole and shuddered.

“That’s a good point, but still. This needs to get out as soon as possible.”

“How about this then?” Another pedestal rose to the middle of the six. On it was Hose, a yellow furred Raposa wearing a fireman’s helmet, along with turnout gear. Over his shoulder he had wrapped a hose, which he aimed at Flash. “We take all of those guys out of the running as we see em, and send everyone else to a new shortlist, that way we can run back through and take a closer look at the ones we want?”

“I like that idea!” Mayo cheerfully agreed, still cautiously looking at the hole. After little deliberation, the Guardians had created a new shortlist. “That leaves us Fiora, Lambert, Mildew, and Rocko.” As Mayo finished its statement, the dark hole shot a beam of darkness upwards. “And Shadow Mari, we cannot forget Shadow Mari.” The darkness returned into the hole as the screen displayed the first name.

**FIORA**

“Up first we have Fiora!” Willham shouted. “Not much is known about her other than she popped into the void one day along with Lambert. In my eyes they’re a package deal but I know the devs see differently.” The Four Guardians jotted down notes on tablets.

“She was grouped in with Watersong and Galactic Jungle NPCs, so we assume she was supposed to live in the Watersong Village.” The Guardians continued to jot down notes in silence.

“Alright, Guardians, do we have an agreement on Fiora?” Flash looked around at her peers, each nodding in agreement. “Alright then. Next please!”

**LAMBERT**

“Now, Lambert seems to be in the exact same category as Fiora. Only difference between the two is that he’s male and green.” More notes were jotted down as the screen moved to the next Raposa.

**MILDEW**

On the screen was an orange furred Raposa wearing a trash can lid on his head. “This is Mildew! I quite like this one cause he-“

“What’s his backstory?” The voice came from the third podium, housing Paint, a yellow furred Raposa with a red beret, paint brush, and palette. “I remember him from preliminary testing in Lavasteam, but don’t remember a backstory. I voted yes for him last time, but it didn’t pass, so what would we do with him?”

“I don’t know. Maybe we can make him a farmhand or a fisherman!” Mayo exclaimed.

“I like the way you think!” Paint responded. “I vote yea on Mildew. Who’s with me?”

“If voting for Mildew will get the game done faster, I vote yea.” Flash raised her hand.

“He’s the only one that has a full personality as I see it, so I vote yea as well!” Hose raised his hand, and everyone faced the final guardian. Ore was an orange haired Raposa who was leaning on his axe. He wore a yellow hard hat and a red shirt, with blue pants that matched.

“…” Ore raised his hand.

“Well then it’s settled! We’ll send Mildew up to the Dev Grove and let them work their thing!” A light formed in the center of the group and Mildew’s body was pulled from the floor of the void. He began to float upwards, gaining color as he went, and started speaking.

“aw… you came back… aw… you came back…” His eyes opened. “Aw… You came back! Aw… You came back!” He stood himself up on invisible ground and watched as his surroundings began to fade into a grassy terrain encased in trees. “You're friend number one of a dozen I'll– huh? Where am I?” Mildew looked down at his feet as the last visions of the void disappeared, but not before allowing him to see a black streak cut through the group that brought him to life. “Are they gonna be ok?” Suddenly, from the bush next to him, a human with brown hair popped out.

“They’ll be fine. Welcome to the Dev Grove Mildew! My name is Joe and I’ll be guiding you through the creation process.” As Mildew followed Joe into the woods, a human girl poked her head out from behind a rock.

“I can’t believe that worked! I’m free!” She began to celebrate as her hair bobbed up and down with her, her yellow jacket swaying in the wind before halting at the blade that appeared through her torso.

“Sorry ma’am. You gotta be much quieter if you don’t want to be caught out here.”

“Alright fine. You caught me you filthy Droogle.” The rectangular, dog-like warrior pushed his sword through her body, popped her out of the grove and back into the void.

“Never. Call me a filthy Droogle.”

* * *

** The Void **

* * *

“Bring him back down!” Willham and Mayo stayed still as Shadow Mari summoned two Ink Tossers two her side.

“You know we can’t do that! Once the code is given a form, we can’t bring it back until the devs decide otherwise!” Mayo’s earrings jingled in fear as a ball of ink flew past her.

“Consider that a warning shot. I don’t care what you have to do, get Mildew back down here or else, this entire realm will be reborn.”

“Reborn? No, you don’t mean-“

“I do mean Willham! I’ll resurrect every last one of the code fragments, unused sprites, and concept art and let them roam free!”

“You don’t have the guts!” Everyone’s eyes turned towards the voice cutting through the scene. “And if you do, your face’ll get a nice, warm welcome from my ol’ pickaxe ‘ere!” The other three guardians moved their pedestals away from Ore as an Ink Tosser fired a ball of ink at the miner.

“I don’t have the guts I guess.” Shadow Mari called off her two Ink Tossers and sent them back to the dark pit. “Then I wonder who’s guts these are.” A beam of darkness shot out from the hole and began to flow in seemingly random directions.

“Mari don’t!” Willham’s cries were cut short as a beam shot through him and the screen displaying Mildew’s name. He evaporated into the air and a blue smoke floated upwards. As the shadow touched the floors of the void, environments began to spring up. Floating rocks with windmills and machinery, some semblance of a watering hole, and a pocket of space – home to a giant, round creature – all began to pop up in random locations. A second beam of shadow landed right outside the grounds where the guardians held their meeting, and a village resembling Lavasteam began to form. In one corner of the village was a pool of color, which also began to shoot its own beams.

The beams of color flowed over every other area and brought life to each of them. On the floating rocks, two Raposa and many sleeping shadow beings were spawned into life. In the watering hole, a turtle with ice on its shell walked across the bottom of the lake, followed by a toad, stuck in a ball, and a smack of blue and yellow jellyfish. The space area gained no new life, but the creature inhabiting its center opened its eyes and yawned. Flash, Hose, and Paint ran to the edge of the Lavasteam village and huddled together as Rocko stood and shook his head. Next to him ran a Rabosa, a bipedal fox, and a large, red snake.

“Welcome back, Hero. Would you like me to flip the lava switch?” Rocko smirked as he looked down at the three guardians, eventually helping them pull Ore, still covered in ink, onto the island. “Throw him in the vat of color over there and he’ll be perfectly fine.” The other guardians carried Ore over to the color vat as Rocko approached the Fox. “Y’know, now that we’re free, we can do just about anything. No devs to watch over us means we don’t have to abide by our code anymore.”

“Maybe so, but why would I want to be anything besides who I am? Being a fox is great!”

“Fair enough, but I’m gonna be more than just the Lava Switch guy! I got my engineering skill and my lunchbox on my side, so I’m gonna go and discover this world!”

“Well don’t just leave me behind! We may have just met, but it feels like I know you pretty well!” Fox ran forward and held Rocko back from jumping off the page. “So, like it or not, we’re a team.”

“Actually, if you don’t mind,” a voice called out to the two, “we could really use your help rebuilding around here!” Mayo floated down to the two and shrunk herself to meet their eyes.

“Sorry ma’am, but you appointed your guardians for a reason. We were just data in an abyss until a few seconds ago, and by my count, we don’t have you to thank for bringing us to life.” Mayo floated back in shock and looked over to the guardians. They pulled Ore out of the color vat, who now looked younger than before.

“…” The four embraced as Mayo sighed and drifted away, mumbling under her breath.

“Alright then Fox! Let’s go find that Shadow Girl and give her some thanks!”

“I’ll happily oblige but I gotta go get another friend first. From what I know, they should be…” Fox looked around the area until he saw a jungle filled with a bounty of houses and blue birds. “…right over there!” The two begun to walk towards the village when they were stopped by a barricade of ants with leaves.

“Hey watch it punks!” A blue bird swooped down at the two.

“Yeah! Lettem work! Stop intrudin’!” A squirrel swooped down behind them. Rocko and Fox looked into the sky to see that birds and flying squirrels were beginning to circle in the air above them, continuing to dive bomb the group.

“Quick! There’s a bamboo hut just a gap away, lets jump for it!” Rocko and Fox stood in a line and jumped across the gap and landed safely in the house, were a large Golden Baki and a Bonobo were waiting for them.

“Well damn. There’s no way we can make it out of this mess.” Fox said while eying the possible exits. Suddenly, a beam of shadow and a beam of color made their way through the area, drawing in the space pocket and covering the terrain with ice.

“What the hell is happening?” Rocko, Fox, the Bonobo, and the Golden Baki slid around the floor as the planets began to move closer.

“We have to get up there to my friend before those planets collide with anything!” Rocko nodded at Fox and ran past the Golden Baki and towards the Bonobo, pushing it off the edge of the platform. The two of them ran out of the house when they noticed a giant gap in front of them. “There’s no way we can make this jump!”

“Not without help!” Fox called out to the birds and squirrels who all began to swoop towards them. As the enemies flew towards the group and over the gap, the two allies jumped on top of them, gaining height and another jump as they landed on each enemy. Suddenly, a blue smoke encompassed the area, blinding Rocko and Fox.

“Quick! Get to the other side! We’re almost there!” Fox landed on the other platform, sliding around as Rocko followed shortly behind him.

“Oh no you don’t,” the blue smoke shouted from the sky. Just then, the birds and squirrels began to dissolve into the void. Rocko maneuvered the squirrel he was on over to the other side of the gap just before it disappeared.

“Quick! Run to the trunk of that tree!” Rocko and Fox ran to the tree in front of them as the terrain behind them began to dissolve.

“I’ve burnt down one village; I’ll burn down another!” Willham formed himself at the opposite end of the terrain and began to float towards the group, dissolving the terrain behind him. As the planets neared the village, Fox called out to the house.

“Jinxy, You’re alive! C’mon you need to jump down to us!” A Raposa with two ponytails peeked out from inside the house and called back to the group.

“Oi, Fox! I’m on my way now.” As Willham approached the small hut, Jinxy jumped down to join the two. “Now, can either of ya explain to me what’s goin’ on?”

“Not the time. We need to get out of here, now!” Rocko grabbed Jinxy’s hand and followed Fox in jumping off the platform into the jungle below. As a planet collided with the hut, Willham flew past, dissolving the landscapes and returning the spot to the void.


	2. Weathering

Rocko, Fox, and Jinxy landed safely on the floor of the void as Willham silently floated behind them.

“So, you three think you can run around doing anything your heart desires? Not on my watch.” As Willham charged up to dissolve the group, Rocko stepped forward.

“We can take you to Shadow Mari.” Willham froze where he was.

“And what makes you think I want to see the person who killed me?”

“Revenge. You’re upset that she ruined the order and routine of the void, so if you can take her and the darkness out, then you can have your order back.” Willham silently considered the proposal.

“And what’s to stop the three of you from turning on me when we get to her?”

“Oh, we fully intend to. But with your power, I have no doubt that you’ll be able to take us all on.” Willham mulled over the decision in his head.

“Fine, let’s go meet Shadow Mari.”

“Great! But we need to make a quick pitstop first. It looks like all the unused content from The Next Chapter’s Wii release was beginning to merge together, correct?” Rocko gestured to the area where they had just escaped.

“I have no idea how you know what that means, but yes. It looks to me like that’s what happened.”

“Then I need you to guide us to the area where the content from The Next Chapter’s DS release is being contained.” Willham pondered his options before reluctantly floating away towards a cluster of buildings and locations removed from The Next Chapter, prompting the group to follow him. As the group made their way behind Willham, Fox and Jinxy pulled Rocko aside.

“Might I ask, what do we stand to gain by letting this megalomaniac come with us?” Jinxy asked, glaring at Rocko as Fox distanced himself from the two. “If anything, he’ll kill us and wipe out whatever land we’re going to!”

“Hey, trust me on this. I know some people over in this world who can help us take him on.” Fox angrily walked up to the two.

“What do you mean you know some people? We were born about fifteen minutes ago!”

“My memories say what they say. I apparently know at least two Raposa in Watersong who can help us defeat Willham. Listen, when we get to the hole I can explain more about my idea, but just trust me on this for now.” Fox and Jinxy scoffed and the three continued behind Willham towards the amalgamation of a village.

* * *

** In The Next Chapter Village **

* * *

“I don’t get it. Every time I ascend, those Droogles keep killing me and bringing me back down.” Alana said after multiple filed attempts to escape the void. She took a bite out of an apple as she sat around a table with Lambert, Fiora, and Nolan.

“I get why you wanted to leave before all this, but why do you want to go back so badly now? Isn’t this life great?” Nolan leaned across the table. “We can do anything we want! We’re basically just super advanced AI right now! What more could you ask for?”

“A fanbase. No one adores us down here,” Alana said, pointing at Fiora and Lambert. “Y’all were lucky enough to actually make it into a game.”

“And how is that on us?” Lambert said, pounding his fist on the table.

“Who ever said I was blaming you, greenie?” Alana leaned across the table, but Nolan and Fiora swiftly broke up their fight as a blue smoke surrounded the four.

“Ah great. Look at what you two did,” Fiora huffed as she fell back into her chair.

“Now you two, you know the rules.” Mayo’s voice echoed from the cloud.

“Yeah, yeah.” Alana fell back into her chair as well. “As long as we don’t cause any problems, you’ll keep this place up and running.” Mayo nodded and drifted away from the group. The four of them sat in silence for ages when Alana suddenly stood up. “hey mike… did you get the scene art done today… hey mike! did you get the scene art done today?”

“Uhhh, and just what are you doing?” Mayo asked Alana, who was now slightly hovering with her eyes shut.

“I think she’s trying to get sent up to the Dev Grove again.” Lambert said as he and Fiora sat back down.

“Don’t get caught up in her theatrics,” Nolan said, sipping a mimosa as Alana ascended into the roof of the void. “Those Droogles’ll stab her right through the heart, and she’ll be right back at this table. I give it thirty seconds.” Alana disappeared through the roof as Fiora and Lambert sat back down.

“Three…Two…One…” Nolan pointed at the chair Alana previously sat it as she reappeared in her group.

“Damn it. Filthy Droogles.” Nolan snapped at red, wigged fish in a pond that spat into Alana’s cup. She took a drink of the liquid and stood back up, muttering the same words as before.

“Man, just give it up already! You’re never getting back into the spotlight!”

“No! I’m not gonna just give this up!” Alana slammed her fists on the table and walked away from her friends. Nolan, Fiora, and Lambert stood up and stared as she left, Mayo joining the group shorty after.

“Did she tell the three of you where she was going?”

“Sadly not. But I do have an idea of how to help Alana get out of here.” Fiora began to walk in the opposite direction of Alana, towards the Galactic Jungle section of their current village. As the group followed her, they were crossed by monkeys flying through the air with leaves and space helmets. As they neared their destination, more birds flew past them, grass topping some of them, and flower buds hovered in the air, smirking as they fell. Fiora stopped the group as they neared a building atop a floating rock. The windmill that topped the building slowly spun as a short, greyscale Raposa stepped out.

“Fiora! Are you here for a new dress?”

“Not one for me, Hans. One for one of my friends.” Fiora stepped inside and closed the door on Nolan, Lambert, and Mayo.

“I can’t believe she led us all the way here just to lock us out!” Lambert walked over and jiggled the doorknob before Mayo floated up to him.

“Hey, just give it a minute. I think I know what she’s doing in there.” Mayo pushed Lambert away from the door and sat the two men down to wait.

* * *

** In the Dev Grove **

* * *

“So, Mildew, what do you think about all this?”

“I mean, it seems great, but I’m not sure I’m ready for all this responsibility. I mean, I’m finally gonna be in a game! What happens if I mess up?” Mildew fidgeted nervously when a gang of bird Droogles surrounded the Raposa.

“Hey, what’s going on here?” Joe was pushed away from Mildew as the birds stabbed Mildew.

“Ow! What was thaa-aa-a-a-a-“ Mildew froze in place as his eyes glazed over and he disappeared from the area. Joe tried to push through the crowd when a pack of blue bears surrounded him, pushing another human with them.

“They got you too Joe? I thought we employed these guys to help us, not enslave us!”

“David? Not you too!” As the words escaped Joe’s mouth, the Droogles stabbed both of them and sent the three into the void. As they disappeared from the grove, the Droogle Leader, a tan, dog-like Droogle with a feather in his helmet, pulled his sword out of its sheath and pointed it towards the sky.

“Alright gang. We got one shot at this! Let’s get movin’!” The Droogles began to scatter about the grove as one boarded up the Wishing Well in the center of the grove. The Droogle Leader positioned himself on top of the now defunct well. “Too long we’ve been mere hall monitors in this world! We were meant to be mascots! Foot soldiers of this world!” The other Droogles cheered as they continued to work. “It’s time to take over this world! No more Two Realms, it’s time for our Definitive Edition!” The Droogles celebrated at the words of their leader and finished working on their design, forming a giant ring around the grove. The Droogle Leader took his place in the ring and began to speak in code.

When he finished, the Droogles grabbed the hands next to them and repeated the dialogue. Suddenly, the land began to rotate around them until stopping forty-five degrees later. The Droogles broke their chain and began to cheer, their leader making the loudest noise in the grove. “This world is ours!"

* * *

** In the Drawn to Life Village **

* * *

“Welcome on in you two.” A giant purple frog and a large dragon with a backpack and shadow covered tail, Dinofrog and Drakon respectively, entered a building together, checking over their shoulders as they closed the door. Three rats ran up to the two beasts and directed them into a meeting room. Around a table was a large vulture leaning on a rocket and a large tank with a black, crowned ball inside. On the table was a bundle of rope and a gang of small, four legged domes with lasers attached. Next to the tank was a monkey inside of a crawling machine that had a laser attached to the back.

“Well, since the gang’s all here, might I suggest we get started?” Everyone took their seats at the table, and Drakon addressed the group. “This is the first time we’ve all had a chance to meet formally, and not just as bundles of code and drawings.”

“Have the Droogles done their part yet?” The Vulture leaned against the table and glared at Drakon.

“There’s no way we can tell until we make it out of here. I have no reason to doubt that they didn’t complete their mission.”

“Speaking of, how are we gonna get out of here? The only way is to get picked by the devs or the screeners, and with the devs down here and the screeners dealing with whatever brought us back to life, there’s no way we can leave.” The monkey crawled around the table.

“And who might you be? As I recall, this is a meeting for cut bosses, not enemies.”

“I apologize, your frogginess, but Beta King over here can’t talk. You can call me–oh I don’t know. I’ve always liked the name Rex.”

“Sorry, that names taken already,” the three rats said in unison as they climbed onto the table.

“Fine then. Call me Crawler.”

“Alright Crawler. I assume you’re King’s translator?” Drakon took off his backpack and settled into his seat.

“More of a representative. King here can’t talk, or even think for that matter. And since Click is up there, in the great canon or whatever, I may as well be the King.”

“Alright then. Back to escaping,” the vulture squawked. “Can we trick the devs or screeners somehow?”

“It’s possible, but incredibly unlikely.”

“What about the Shadow? If we can use some of it to threaten the devs and screeners, they could send us up.” The words from Dinofrog were met with silence.

“It’s crazy…” Drakon scratched his chin. “But it just might work. Dinofrog, you and I will go find the devs and whoever the screeners sent up, along with the leader of the Shadow down here. The rest of you, find where the screeners are now. Let’s move people, we got a Definitive Edition to release!”

* * *

** Outside The Next Chapter Village **

* * *

“We’re almost there guys!” Rocko began to run towards the village, Fox and Jinxy hot on his trail. Willham met with the edge of the area. The ground began to dissolve beneath him when the three faux-foxes appeared behind him.

“Not yet.” Jinxy tried to put his hand on Willham but phased through the screener. “If you want to get to Shadow Mari, we need some of the people in this Village.”

“Alright fine. Where are they now?”

“Well, that’s kind of the problem. We don’t know.” Willham flew towards Fox and began to berate him.

“If we don’t know where they are, then why bother looking for them? You all never should’ve come back!”

“Because if we don’t get them, we won’t take you to Shadow Mari!” Rocko at the screener, catching the attention of some fish and seahorses. “And don’t forget, she’ll decimate you again if you go near that hole. We are your bodyguards right now, and therefore we’re in charge.”

“No. I’m not in need of any bodyguards. You go find your friends on your own, and I’ll figure something out.” Willham drifted away from the group and towards the hole in the void.

“Good. Now he’s off our trail. Let’s go find Fiora and Lambert before he dissolves this village.” The three foxes stepped onto the book and noticed a human girl with long, reddish-brown hair driving a car around the village. “Hey Rocko, is that one of ‘em?” Fox asked, pointing at Alana.

“No, but I know she isn’t from here. Hey! Ma’am stop!” The three ran to Alana’s car and pulled her over.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?”

“I could ask you the same question. You weren’t cut from this game, so how are you over here with Willham and Mayo on the hunt?”

“Mayo isn’t hunting anything. She’s the one that let me stay here.”

“Regardless, we’re not here for you. Do you know who Fiora and Lambert are?”

“God, those two. If you want ‘em, they’re on the other end of the village. I think they want to get me a gift, but I’m not in the mood right now.” As Alana finished her statement, a blue mist began to circle the group.

“And where do the three of you think you’re going?”

“Don’t worry Mayo. They’re with me now I guess.” The rest of Mayo’s form came into view, but before she could get out another word, the page on the book began to turn.

“Mayo, is that something we need to worry about?” Alana chimed in.

“Oh no. Get off the page! Now!” The five beings ran away from the village and back onto the floor of the void.

“Wait, what about Nolan?” Alana cried. “I’m not gonna leave without him!” Alana ran back onto the now falling page, heading towards Hans’ seam shop.

“Alana you’re going to die!”

“Better dead than forgotten.” As Alana made her way to the shop, Nolan and Lambert stood to meet her.

“You two, get onto the void if you want to live.”

“You don’t have to ask me twice,” Lambert said, jumping off the page of the island, Nolan following behind him. Hans pushed Fiora out the door and followed behind her.

“Oh no. If this page doesn’t crush us, those guys certainly will,” Hans said, pulling Fiora and Alana off the page. As the book finished turning, mysterious creatures made their way towards the group. “I guess we’re getting crushed by those…things…then,” Hans quipped, hiding behind the other beings.

“Be nice now. I don’t think you want to be on our bad side.” Crawler ran up to the group with Beta King, Vulture, Rata, Tat, and Tat following behind him. “You can call us Bosses if it’s all the same to you.”

“Doesn’t really matter in my eyes. Mayo, a little help here?” Alana called to the blue smoke that was moving rapidly towards them.

“Oh hey, Alana. Before we die, Hans made this for you.” Fiora tossed a yellow dress at Alana.

“And why would I wear this?”

“Put it on and read this line, just like you did with the other thing you rambled,” Fiora said as she shoved a piece of paper in Alana’s hand.

“Wait, you guys did all this for me?”

“Well, it’s not gonna matter if we all die right now! A little faster Mayo!” Nolan shouted at the blue smoke still speeding towards them.

“What do you need me to do?” Mayo asked from behind the group, accompanied by Rocko, Fox, and Jinxy.

“Wait if youre behind us…” As the words left Nolan’s mouth, Willham sped over both the village and the group, dissolving the village and the beings.


	3. Erosion

* * *

** At the Guardian’s Discussion Grounds **

* * *

Mildew, Joe, and David woke up surrounded by the Four Guardians. As they poked and prodded the three fallen beings, they jolted upright and began to feel the areas where the Droogles had stabbed them moments earlier.

“Where are we?” Joe panicked, looking around the void.

“This is the void. I assume you’re a dev? One of the voices?” Flash asked. Joe and David looked into the sky and looked towards the guardians.

“We can’t stay here.”

“And why not? You run this place, so you can fix it, no?” Flash walked behind the devs and looked into the sky.

“We can only run this place from up there!” Joe stood up and pulled David and Mildew to their feet. “Right now, our only hope is finding the screeners. You four should know where they are, right?”

“Last I heard, Mayo was headed towards The Next Chapter Village and Willham was going to the Wii Area.”

“Wii Area? The Next Chapter? How do you guys even know those names?”

“I mean, ever since the Shadow did whatever it did, we’ve known. It’s like we all have bonds with everyone else now. Feels like we unlocked a whole barrage of memories.” Joe and David looked around at the now populated area, realization setting upon them as they looked towards the dark pit in the void.

“How long has that been there?” David asked.

“Well, the shadow has always been here, but the hole is new, only cropping up about a week ago. It seems to be run by Shadow Mari and is the home for all the scrapped Shadow and Ink monsters you cut.”

“Wait, we never cut Shadow Mari. We just coded her scene wrong.” The Four Guardians looked at each other in shock and followed the devs’ gaze towards the hole.

“And second off, if I may,” Joe cut in. “How come she’s been alive when we only gave the four of y’all life?” Everyone stood in silence before Flash piped up.

“There’s only one other person that can give anyone life as far as I know.”

* * *

** Where The Next Chapter Village Once Stood **

* * *

“Willham! Pardon my language but what the fuck were you thinking, wiping out the entire population of the village along with some of our team?”

“Our team? Mayo, have you forgotten that none of these people should exist right now?” Willham turned to face the survivors of his attack – Rocko, Jinxy, Fiora, Nolan, and Crawler.

“They shouldn’t exist but now they do. They were given life, so we have to protect it!”

“We have to destroy it! None of them should be alive, and you’re lucky I left these ones for you. Now, Rocko and Jinxy, take Fiora and come with me.”

“And just leave us behind?” Nolan asked, stepping up to the blue, goggled mist. “Not after you just killed my best friend!”

“Don’t forget my armada! Now it’s just me in this mech and no one to back me up!”

“Sorry, but who are you and what was your goal here?” Willham said angrily, floating up to the mech.

“I’m Crawler and I was coming to find you two to send me up there, into the grove.”

“Uh, I hate to butt in,” Rocko said, calling attention to himself. “But why do you think Jinxy and I would go with you willingly? You just erased my home and my best friend!” Rocko and Nolan looked at each other as the Raposa spoke.

“Because that was part of our terms! Don’t you remember why I led you here in the first place?”

“What about my home then?” Jinxy yelled. “I was comfortable in my hut, and Fox barely got to me in time you bastard!” As everyone yelled at each other, Fiora walked away from the group and towards the hole in the void. As the argument raged on, Nolan and Jinxy broke from the group and chased after her.

“Hey, you ok Fio?” Nolan caught up to her and put his hand on her shoulder. Fiora kept walking silently, never breaking her stride.

“Ma’am, you can’t just leave us like that. We have no idea what could be out here!” Fiora brushed off Jinxy’s comments and continued to ignore her friends.

“Ground to Fiora, anyone there?” Visibly agitated, Fiora slowed down slightly before coming to a stop. “You ready to talk?”

“No, I’m not ready to talk! My best friend just died! Your best friend just died too, and you’re following me around instead of trying to make someone take responsibility!”

“Alana might be gone but she certainly isn’t dead. How do you think any of us got brought back to life in the first place?”

“Well, I don’t know about the two of you, but I was brought back by shadow and color,” Jinxy said, killing the conversation and drawing their attention to him. “What? Willham wanted to tell his story so we let him.”

“What exactly did he tell you?” Fiora asked, sitting down in the void.

“Well, not much that the three of us understood, but he did tell us that one day, the shadow just started cropping up in random places. It seemed to happen in clusters according to him, almost like someone was cleaning it up and sending to this expanse. No clue what he meant by that, but apparently it led to all of us coming to life somehow.”

“Wait, how did you get shadow and color from just that?” Nolan asked.

“Oh, right! I remember now. Willham told us about a group of shadow bands spreading across the void and raising architecture and formations from the ground. When Rocko’s home came up from the ground, apparently there was a vat of color that spread across the expanse too, bringing us all to life.” Fiora and Nolan stood there dumbfounded at the story Jinxy told them.

“So theoretically, we could bring someone back to life by throwing them in the shadow hole, then the color vat?”

“Well, I doubt that, but it’s always worth a shot I suppose.” Fiora and Nolan stood up and whispered to each other for a minute. “Uh, hello? I may not be as close as the two of you, but my best friend was also just killed, or well, removed.”

“Sorry, we just don’t know you too well. Hey, do you have anything of Fox left over?”

“I could probably pull some shed fur off of Rocko’s clothes, why?”

“If we can get to the color pit and throw that in, we might be able to bring him back to life.”

“Good idea, one problem,” Jinxy turned to look at the group of people still fighting. “The color vat was also deleted when Willham erased the village like we promised.”

“Promise? What promise?” Jinxy cringed, forgetting that Nolan and Fiora didn’t know the terms of their agreement.

“Well, we may or may not have told Willham he could erase the village when we found you two. You and Lambert actually.” Jinxy turned around to face his companions, who were glaring at him.

“I do remember Rocko saying something like that in our argument back there.” Nolan faced the group before looking back at Jinxy. “You let him do this. C’mon Fio. We don’t want this guy with us; who knows what stunts he might pull.”

“You don’t want this guy with us,” Fiora said, breaking eye contact with Nolan. “I do. If we can’t bring people back to life, we might as well beg for someone to come back.” Fiora grabbed Jinxy’s arm. “And I know just who to use as our sacrifice.”

* * *

** In the Dev Grove **

* * *

“Hey boss, they sent someone up to us!” A Droogle pulled back a bush while calling to the Droogle Leader. The Leader walked over to the bush to see a young girl with a yellow dress and a red headband looking up at them.

“What’s your name and why are you here?” he asked the girl. Her eyes were big and were paired with a wide grin on her face.

“Oh my god. Oh my god, it worked! I’m here and–“ She was cut off by the Droogle.

“I’m sorry ma’am, but we’re only accepting very specific applicants right now, and you aren’t one of them.” The two Droogles drew their swords and prepared to shove them into the girl.

“Alright fine. I guess you caught me again, you filthy–” she said, as she was stabbed by the swords and sent back into the void.

“Sir, do you know her?”

“I do,” the Droogle Leader said, sheathing his sword. “And if she figured out how to get in here without the Bosses, then we need to prepare for a war.”

* * *

** At the Guardian’s Discussion Grounds **

* * *

“–Droogles.” Alana woke up in the void and looked to the side to see the Four Guardians engaged in a battle with a giant frog. She scrambled to her feet only to see Drakon grabbing Joe, David, and Mildew. “What the hell is happening here?”

“Alana! What are you doing here? And what are you wearing?” Hose asked, turning back to look at her.

“Well, I tried to ascend without the four of you and got sent back by the Droogles again. As for this, Fiora got it for me. Now, wanna answer my question?”

“Basically, I’m a fighting this huge frog, and that dragon stole the devs!” Hose turned back to the monster who was flicking its tounge at the group. Alana watched as Drakon flew towards the hole, before looking back at the group. As the Four Guardians moved around the battlefield, Alana was able to watch as Fiora and Nolan ran past with Jinxy behind them.

“We have to catch up to that dragon!” Jinxy yelled. “We don’t want it to get to the hole before we do!”

“Why not?” Nolan screamed. “Did you bargain with him too?”

“No,” Fiora said. “They have Mildew. We have to stop it!”

“Are you crazy?” Nolan screamed. “Y’all are just Raposa, and I’m just a guy! We can’t take on a damn dragon!”

“What choice do we have?” Jinxy asked. “We can’t draw a Hero in this place, and we don’t have the Shadow on our side.” Alana listened to the conversation from afar as the battle moved back in front of her. As she watched the guardians fight, they began to shout to each other.

“There’s no way we can beat this thing!” Paint yelled to his teammates.

“Maybe not alone, but if we can lure it into the Drawn to Life village, we might be able to summon someone who can,” Flash recalled.

“The Droogle killer? We can’t! We need to save that for the Shadow, or at the very least that dragon!”

“Plus, if one of us leaves the ground, we’ll have lost this fight by the time we regroup!” Ore said.

“Wait, we might not have to leave. Alana!”

“I heard you say Droogle killer. What do I need to do?”

* * *

** Where The Next Chapter Village Once Stood **

* * *

Rocko had watched as his friends left the group and was trying to keep the three beings attention to the argument. He had fallen out of the conversation but was thinking about how to work with the beings who were all exponentially stronger than him. On one hand, he was to blame for Willham erasing everything. On the other, both Mayo and Crawler lost friends in his attack.

“Rocko.” If he sided with Willham, then he would have Crawler, and also this Dinofrog and Drakon that he keeps mentioning, on his tail. If he sided with Mayo, Willham could just as easily erase him from existence.

“Rocko!” Maybe the best solution would be to follow after Jinxy, Fiora, and Nolan. They seemed to have their goals set, and it would get him away from the three strongest people down here.

“Rocko! Stop spacing out and answer me!” Mayo shouted, catching Rocko’s attention. “Where did they go?”

“Where did who go?”

“Fox? Lambert?”

“My army?” Crawler interrupted.

“Fine, them too. Willham said you knew where they were. It was part of your plan or something?”

“What? We didn’t have a plan; we had an agreement. He would bring us here, and we would let him erase the area as soon as we got Fiora and Lambert.”

“So, you lied to us then.” Mayo and Willham continued to argue as Crawler walked over to Rocko.

“You managed to negotiate with this guy, huh? Pretty impressive if you ask me.” Crawler popped open the glass of his mech and hopped out, sitting down in front of Rocko. “I wanna ask you somethin’.”

“Shoot,” Rocko said, sitting down with the now powerless monkey.

“How did we get here? I’ve been wondering about that ever since Drakon started talking about Droogles and getting out of here. I sort of understand it, but Vulture was telling me about you specifically.”

“Well, I remember my time in the games, helping the Hero with things in Lavasteam. Suddenly, we all heard the Creator talk about color or something, and then everything started dissolving a few hours later. I fell asleep as I watched the void come into my view, and when I woke up, everything was dark. Eventually, I felt something rumbling all around me, so I felt around for something to grab and held on as the land I was on rose into the sky. Then a barrage of memories filled my head, and when I saw Fox, I knew that I had to get him and go thank the Shadow for bringing us back.”

“So, the shadow is the one who brought us back? Not the screeners or the devs? Interesting.” The two of them sat in silence until Crawler stood up. “Well, Rocko, it looks like we have someone to meet. How about the two of us head over to that deep hole?”

“I feel like you just stole my idea. I literally just told you that’s what I was gonna do.”

“Then it’s a deal! Onward to the hole!” Crawler yelled as he hopped back into his mech and began to crawl away. Before Rocko could stand up, Willham and Mayo flew over to the Raposa and began to panic.

“Do either of you know where everyone else disappeared to?” When neither of the creatures could respond, Willham shot a smoke cloud at the two, prompting them to hop onto it.

“C’mon y’all, we’re talking an emergency trip the shadow pit. We have someone to talk to.”

* * *

** In the Drawn to Life Village **

* * *

Alana walked arrived at the ghost town, greeted only by deafening silence.

“Droogle killer? Where are you?” Alana whispered into the streets. As she walked around quietly, she noticed a hill partially covered in red fabric. “Oh, Droogle killer, are you hiding under here?” As she walked up to the hill, she felt the ground rumble beneath her. She kept walking towards the hill when she heard a voice call out behind her.

“Moo?” She jumped and turned to face a green alien that was walking towards her, but before she could respond to it, the alien was crushed by a tree. Alana winced and turned back to face the hill, now decorated with an angry face, two arms, a belly button, and two legs bursting from the red fabric.

“Hi, are you the Droogle killer?” When the beast heard the word Droogle, its eyes shot open and it let out a deep roar. Alana backed up and continued to talk to the monster. “That’s right! We’re gonna kill the Droogles!” The giant slowly stood up, nodding its head and grunting as Alana talked. “We need your help fighting them! Do you wanna help us fight the Droogles and their friends?” The Droogle killer, now on its feet and standing four times Alana’s height, let out a final roar before picking Alana up and placing her on its shoulder.

“Where!!!” the killer shouted at Alana.

“See that purple frog? It’s working with the Droogles! Let’s go kill it!” With its instructions given, the Droogle killer began to steadily march towards the fight.


	4. Protection

* * *

** At the Guardian’s Discussion Grounds **

* * *

“You don’t have a choice! Help us or we’re all gonna die!” Flash had intercepted Willham, Mayo, Rocko, and Crawler on their way to the hole and was trying to get them to help fight Dinofrog.

“I’m sorry Flash, but we’re just not equipped to fight right now,” Mayo said, not breaking her movement and passing through Flash’s body.

“What do you mean, ‘we’? I’m perfectly capable of fighting this thing!” Willham declared, setting Rocko and Crawler down before drifting towards the frog.

“Yeah! I might not be able to do much, but I can try to fight too,” Rocko joined in, running off behind Willham. Suddenly, a laser fired at Rocko, hitting his hard hat and knocking it off his head. Rocko turned to see Crawler approaching him.

“We may be friends, but that frog over there is my boss. Sorry bud, these are the rules.” Rocko, acknowledging that he was overpowered, retuned to Crawler’s side, and sat down as Willham began to kick up a cloud of smoke around Dinofrog. The three fighting guardians stopped firing at the monster just long enough to see an object hurtling through the air towards them.

“Willham! Look out!” Ore yelled as a tree crashed into the center of the smoke cloud. Willham dissipated his attack, only to show that the tree has landed in the ground. Dinofrog was gone, and the combatants heard a faint cry from far away.

“Droogle Frog dead! Next kill Droogle Dragon!” Willham floated back over to Rocko and Crawler, putting them on another smoke cloud. As the three of them began to leave, Mayo drifted to the guardians, offering them their own cloud to ride on.

“If we’re all going to the hole, might as well travel fast.”

“Actually Mayo, I think we’ll walk,” Flash said to the screener.

“What’s the matter guys? We gotta get to the shadow pit before Drakon does!” The four guardians looked at each other, nodded, and jumped on Mayo’s cloud in silence. As the two blue blurs floated towards the hole, the Droogle killer stomped towards Drakon, who was still carrying Joe, Franco, and Mildew.

As the dragon approached the hole, the three hostages noticed a being moving around its perimeter. It shot a beam of shadow into the pit, summoning all sorts of Shadow and Ink monsters. Drakon began to descend to the edge of the hole and threw its hostages onto the ground next to the cause of all the void’s turmoil, Shadow Mari.

“I always thought I would have to die to meet my maker. Turns out, my maker was actually dying to see me. Funny how life works.” On the other side of the hole, Fiora cornered Jinxy to the edge of the hole.

“One of two things is about to happen. Either you die, and we get a friend back, or you just die.”

“Fiora no! We can’t kill Jinxy!”

“Why not? He killed our only family in this hellscape!” Nolan began to walk toward Fiora when an Ink Bomb suddenly appeared from the pit next to the trio. In a panic, Fiora pushed Jinxy into the hole and ran in the opposite direction of the Bomb.

“Fiora!” Nolan ran after the Raposa girl, shouting at her all the while. “What did that accomplish? You just killed one of your own, that’s murder!” Fiora stopped and faced Nolan as the Ink Bomb went off behind them.

“So what? He helped kill Alana and Lambert. Surely that has to mean something to you,” she said, choking back her tears.

“He didn’t kill anybody!” a voice yelled at the two. They turned to see Willham, Rocko, and Crawler rapidly approaching their location. Right before the two groups collided, Rocko and Crawler jumped off the cloud and landed next to Fiora and Nolan. “You had no right to push him into that pit!”

“If anyone should be dying for this, it’s me,” Willham said to the group, albeit facing Shadow Mari. “It was my choice to erase the villages and your friends, but I’m gonna do what I can to bring them back.” When he finished talking, he began to float across the pit, erasing any Shadow or Ink monsters that got in his path. Just as he began to move, Mayo and the Guardians arrived next to the huddle.

“Where’s Willham going?” Mayo asked the Raposa, Humans, and monkey.

“We have no idea. He just started charging across the pit after taking the blame for killing Alana and Lambert,” Rocko said. Hearing this, Mayo began to follow Willham over the pit.

“Who told you that Alana was dead?” Paint asked the group, pointing at the Droogle killer and its rider who were now right behind the group.

“Hey Fiora! Hey Nolan! Look how high up I am!” Alana waved to her friends, who were shocked to see her alive and well.

“Girl, we thought that blue wave killed you!” Nolan shouted.

“I ascended! And I almost got away with it too!”

“Well descend down here and come give me a hug!”

“In a second, we got a war to fight!”

“Dragon! Kill!!!” the Droogle killer shouted before stepping around the edge of the hole and away from the beings. As the group watched the monster walk away, they began to notice how many shadow and ink enemies had begun to fill up the area around them. As the group prepared for combat, Fiora piped up from behind the guardians.

“I don’t know what you guys are doing, but I have no combat experience. I can’t fend off a Shadow Cluster or an Ink Tosser or anything.”

“Alright well, you were able to kill one of our own,” Rocko said, glaring at the girl. “So, put up your fists and whatever happens, happens.” Rocko turned back to the wave of shadows and ink and began to swing his lunchbox at the enemies. As the Raposa, human, and monkey fought the waves of enemies, Shadow Mari began to discuss her plan with Drakon.

“Have the Droogles cleared the grove of all scripts?” Drakon looked over at the three prisoners on the ground behind him.

“I believe so, and we captured every coded being that was still there. The well has been boarded off, so no one unaware should be wandering into the area.”

“Good work. Now, I need you do test out one last theory of mine. It might help us get to the grove without having to ascend at all.” Shadow Mari cleared a path from Drakon to the hole. “I need you to fly into the pit.” Drakon looked at Shadow Mari in disbelief before countering her proposal.

“What happens if I don’t come back? The Droogles need my commands to start the invasion on the village.”

“Don’t worry about the Droogles. They know what their mission is, and should this kill you, I’ll send someone with your regards and orders.” Drakon sighed and began to move towards the hole. As he got to the edge, the Droogle killer suddenly noticed what was about to happen.

“No! Droogle Dragon must die!” The monster picked Alana off of its shoulder and placed her on the ground. As Drakon fell into the hole, the Droogle killer jumped after him, both of them disappearing without a sound. Right as the Droogle killer disappeared into the hole, Shadow Mari called off all of the Shadow and Ink enemies, causing them to return to the hole. After giving her commands, she saw Willham getting closer to her.

“Willham, stop! She’s not the one to blame for all this,” Mayo yelled out from behind him.

“I know, I am. But this is how I’m gonna end this.” Willham sped up, about to intercept Shadow Mari when Mayo called out to her.

“He’s not going to stop, just kill him!” With the command from the screener, Shadow Mari shot a beam of shadow at Willham, dissolving his form for the second time. With everyone hearing Mayo’s command, all eyes were on her, and everyone began to move to her location.

“He was about to erase Shadow Mari! Why would you say that?” Fiora yelled from one side of Mayo.

“Why did Shadow Mari listen to your commands? Is all of this your fault?” Joe asked from behind her.

“How did you know Drakon’s name before we even got here? What aren’t you telling us?” Flash demanded from another side of Mayo.

“Should I explain it or should you?” Shadow Mari asked from right next to Mayo. Ignoring the questions being thrown at her, Mayo ascended into the sky and shouted at the group.

“Enough! All I ever got from you was sass and anger because I followed the rules. Every time you wanted to send multiple people up to the devs, every time you wanted to skip over names on the screen, every time a game released, and it was time to put your four to sleep, all I ever heard from anyone was hatred!” Everyone stood in shock at Mayo’s sudden outburst. As she kept rambling, Willham began to reform underneath her.

“I thought I could create a world where I could get rid of your hatred for me. I brought Shadow Mari to life to give you friends, give you houses, give you adventures.” Mayo looked down to see Willham floating below her. “But you would never let that stay the way it was, would you? It’s always about the natural order of things. I was always the one to follow the rules, but you never wanted anything new or interesting.” Willham was taken aback by her accusations.

“Mayo, no one here ever hated you. You were the only friend I ever had when the Guardians were put to sleep.”

“And when I tried to give you more friends, more things to do, you had to destroy it. And you,” Mayo sharply said, turning to face Joe and Franco. “Always with your rules and regulations. If you had given us more leeway, we wouldn’t be in this mess to begin with!” Mayo stopped talking and descended back to the floor. Willham floated over to Shadow Mari and asked for a moment alone, leaving the rest of the group with Mayo.

“So, what’s your side to this story? You killed me twice now, so this is the least you can do to repay me,” Willham said to the Shadow being.

“Well, one day, I’m standing next to Shadow Heather and Jowee. We’re running through the scenes with Mari, Heather, Wilfre, and Joe offstage giving us directions. Next thing I know, I’m waking up here and being told to gather Shadow energy.”

“So, you were cut from a game, sent down here, and Mayo resurrected you? She was rambling about wanting to give us a better life. What was that all about?”

“I would tell you if I could. All I know is that the days before the vote I was told to get aggressive and then bring everything to life when I got skipped over.”

“But Mayo was always suck a sucker for the rules. Why would she want something like this to happen? All these people, ripped from their sleep only to be flooded with memories that aren’t even theirs?”

“You heard her. She was tired of the monotony that you were complacent with. She organized all this to give us a better life down here.”

“What about Dinofrog and Drakon? How were they supposed to help us be happier?”

“Honestly, they had nothing to do with her plan. In the Dev Grove, where you send your candidates, there’s a race of creatures called Droogles. They were brought to life to keep the coded characters out of the Dev Grove as far as I’m aware. A revolution sparked, and they found a way to send messages down here, asking for help. The bosses got those messages, and here we are.” The two of them stood silently for a moment before Willham asked one last question.

“How do we stop the Droogles?”

“Don’t worry about that Willham. I took care of everything.”

“How? I thought you were on their side?”

“Let me ask, why do you think we call it the Droogle killer?”

* * *

** In the Dev Grove **

* * *

“Droogles! Must! Die!!” The Droogle killer ripped up trees from their roots and swung them at the many Droogles fighting for control.

“Whatever you do, don’t let it pick up any more trees!” The Droogle Leader shouted at his army before turning to Drakon. “What the hell is this thing, and how did it get here?”

“The people in the void fought back against us. This is one of the things they used. No clue where it came from or what weaknesses it has.”

“This came from our build of the game! It’s literally our only weakness!” Before Drakon could respond, a tree was launched into his face, knocking him back into the woods. After pulling the tree off of his body, Drakon opened his eyes one last time to see the Droogle killer jump into the air and land square on his snout.

“Heh, that was pretty brutal if you ask me!” The Droogle Leader turned to the voice behind him to see a Raposa towering above him. “Name’s Jinxy! May I see your sword for a second?” Jinxy grabbed the sword out of the Droogle Leader’s hands and shoved it through the Droogle’s stomach, causing him to vanish. “Oi giant! I killed their Leader!”

“Droogle Leader, killed?”

“Yeah! You wanna come take care of the rest of these guys?” The Droogle killer smirked and began to throw trees on top of the Droogles, taking extra care to kick and throw any he could manage to reach. With the Droogle Leader’s sword, Jinxy went around stabbing some of the cowering Droogles, sending them to the void with their leader. By the time the rampage was over, both Jinxy and the Droogle killer were breathing heavily, smiles plastering both of their faces.

“Alright buddy, time to go back to the void,” Jinxy said as he stabbed the Droogle killer in the leg, forcing him back to the void. Jinxy looked around at the carnage in the grove one last time before stabbing himself with the sword, taking him back to his home.


	5. Restoration

* * *

**At the Shadow Hole**

* * *

As Willham and Shadow Mari continued to talk, Joe and Franco approached the guardians, who were watching Mayo sob on the ground in front of them.

“I’m not going to pretend to understand what just happened down here,” Franco said to the group, “but we need to find a way out of here and back to the grove. How do you normally send people up to us?”

“Well, we have a meeting area and a voting ability, but that all got destroyed with Dinofrog attacked us. As far as I know, there’s no way to ascend up there anymore,” Flash said to the humans reluctantly.

“What about her?” Joe asked, pointing at Alana. “She’s the reason we hired the Droogles in the first place, to keep her out.” Curiosity plastered the guardians faces as the group turned to face Alana, still in her yellow dress and red headband. “If anyone can get us back up–“

“It’s her,” Mildew said, pushing past the group and walking over to Alana, Nolan, and Fiora, who were deep in conversation.

“Oh, hey Mildew! What’s up?” Alana asked to the Raposa.

“When I was sent up to the grove the first time, I heard you and a Droogle talking. How did you follow me up?”

“You were able to ascend before the Shadow happened? How?” Fiora asked Alana. Alana looked at her friends before sighing and answering.

“I don’t know. All I remember is talking to Mike about scene art, and then all of a sudden everything went dark. I don’t know how the void experience was for you guys, but I remember it all. I sat for a while until eventually I heard Mildew repeating a line, so I did the same thing. I thought as hard as I could and then bam, I’m in the grove.” Everyone stared as Alana’s story sunk in.

“Well, then, we have our answer. You remember your line David?” Joe asked his friend.

“I do. How about you?”

“To a T. Alright guys, this has been fun, but we have to go. There’s development to be done, and Mildew still needs to be adjusted to the game’s world.” Joe, Franco, and Mildew backed away from the group and began to each repeat their line in the game’s world. “ignore what jeremiah says... i hope you enjoyed the story…”

“i dedicate 'the end' song to molly hymas… rock on mj…”

“aw… you came back…” The three of them began to ascend when suddenly, Droogles began to fall from the sky, landing on the ground in a panic. A Droogle dropped on Franco’s head, knocking him back to the floor while Joe and Mildew popped out of the void and back into the Dev Grove. As Flash and Hose ran to Franco’s side, the Droogle killer popped into existence, shortly followed by Jinxy, his hands empty. Rocko ran over to Jinxy as the Droogle killer yelled at the beings on the ground around him.

“No! Droogle not killed!” It began to stop and crush Droogles before being hit by a beam of Shadow and blue smoke. Willham darted from the ground to the Droogle killer, encasing it in a cloud of smoke and erasing the monster from existence.

“Nobody move, or you get erased too!” Willham yelled from the sky and into the crowd of Droogles. “Which one of you sparked this coup?” The remaining Droogles all turned to face towards their leader.

“Are you the one who sent that monster to kill us? Are you the ones that send Drakon to die?” the Droogle Leader yelled. Willham and Shadow Mari moved over to the Droogle Leader, and Shadow Mari nodded at Willham. Willham encased the Droogle Leader in a cloud of smoke, and the three of them flew into the Shadow Hole. As Willham flew into the hole, it began to close itself slowly. After the hole was completely closed, Jinxy walked over to Fiora, who was ruffling her dress franticly.

“What’s wrong Fio? Scared I’m gonna get my revenge?” Jinxy said, laughing at the girl.

“No. I’m just trying to get comfortable. It’s not pleasant here without the areas we used to relax in.”

“We’ve only been alive for a couple of hours girl,” Nolan remarked, walking over to the group. “We only ever relaxed in one place.”

“And it was comfortable. Hey Jinxy, I’m sorry about pushing you in the pit earlier.”

“It’s ok Fio. emotions were running high and hey, I got a badass sword for a bit!” Jinxy and Nolan laughed as Fiora continued to ruffle her dress. Suddenly, a black dot appeared from underneath her clothes.

“What’s that Fio? You hiding some Shadow boy under your dress?” Nolan said, leaning to look at the dot.

“Bark!” The three of them stood in silence as Rocko, hearing the noise, walked over. As they all looked at her dress, a tiny shadow dog popped its head out from underneath.

“Woah, how did you get that thing to stop attacking you?” Rocko asked, squatting down to look at the pet.

“I didn’t do anything. It just crawled under my dress and I’ve been holding onto it ever since.” The four of them all laughed and began to play with the dog while Alana, Flash, and Hose helped Franco to his feet.

“Are you okay? That was a pretty high fall,” Alana said, helping Franco regain his balance.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Just gotta repeat that mantra again, right?”

“Well, actually, since you’re here,” Hose spoke up. “I was wondering if you could do us a favor.”

“I’m not the one in charge, but I’m sure Joe would be ok with giving you a favor for saving our lives.”

“Sweet!” Hose looked over at Flash before asking Franco for his favor. “Can we keep our world like this? It’s been so much more fun with things to do besides helping people to the ground.” Franco looked over at Flash and Alana, who both nodded in agreement.

“It would be nice to have some more company other than just Willham and Mayo.”

“I’ll see what I can do, and we’ll call down when we make our decision. Thank you again for saving us!” Franco said as he repeated his mantra, ascending back into the sky before popping out of the void.

“Well, I guess it’s time to get comfortable and wait for a bit. Do yall need to go talk to Mayo or anything?”

“As a matter of fact, we probably should” Flash said as the three split up. Alana walked over to Nolan, who was currently tossing the Shadow Dog in the air, while Flash and Hose walked to the other guardians. When they arrived behind Ore and Paint, they noticed that Mayo was still crying on the floor in front of them.

“Has she said anything yet?” Hose asked the other guardians.

“Nothing but sobbing,” Paint responded. Flash walked up to the mist and knelt down in front of her.

“Mayo, you need to get up. Willham and Shadow Mari left through the shadow hole, and now they’re gone.” Mayo rose up, still sniffling, and looked around at the landscape, still covered with Droogles who had recently lost their leader.

“How did these guys get here?” She asked through her tears.

“Jinxy and the Droogle killer fought them in the grove, and they appeared down here.” Mayo continued to look around as her actions began to weigh on her even more.

“All I wanted was to give us a better life. One that wasn’t so boring.”

“We’re gonna get that soon!” Hose chirped up. “We asked Franco for some more architecture and people, so I think everyone’s gonna come back!”

“Everyone’s coming back?” Mayo perked up after hearing the news. “That’s great! People will be able to join games whenever they please, and we won’t be bored down here!” Mayo began to celebrate as the guardians watched her in glee. Suddenly, a voice boomed from the void, with no discernable source.

* * *

**In the Dev Grove**

* * *

“Attention guardians! Good news, I’ll grant your request because it’s the least we could do after seeing how you all used to live. I would like to sincerely apologize for our negligence and hope we can have better relationships in the future!” Joe turned off the microphone hidden in his bush and looked toward Willham, Shadow Mari, and the Droogle Leader. "Everything looks a bit different. Did you Droogles do some redecorating while we were gone?"

"When I get my hands on my sword again, you're all done!" the Droogle Leader shouted.

“Would you like us to deal with him, or is he all yours?” Willham said, releasing the Droogle Leader from his cloud and into Joe's custody.

“I think we can take care of him. In fact, I know the perfect job for him in Two Realms!” Joe said laughing. As he turned to guide Mildew to the well in the center of the room, Shadow Mari reached down to pick up the Droogle’s sword.

“Ready to head back down?” She asked before pointing the sword at Willham’s glasses.

“Almost, I need to ask one last thing of the devs.” Willham floated over to Joe, who had just sent Mildew into the well, and began to ask him a question. As the two of them talked, Franco walked over to Shadow Mari.

“So, can you send your Shadow anywhere?”

“As far as I’m aware? Yes.”

“Can you give me a new look? Joe and I made a plan to send me into the game to keep an eye on everyone, but I can’t go in looking like this.”

“Let’s see what I can do.” At his request, Shadow Mari shot a beam of Shadow at Franco, giving him darker hair, and turning his shirt from a dull red to a light blue. When his transformation was complete, Franco looked at himself and smiled.

“Wow! Franco Key is looking pretty good!” Shadow Mari laughed as Willham floated back over to Shadow Mari.

“Alright. Let Joe make this last announcement, and I’ll be ready to go.” The two beings looked over at Joe, who was reaching for the microphone in his bush. He clicked it on and began to speak.

* * *

**In the Void**

* * *

“One last thing guardians. Concerning Mayo, it pains me to say that I will have to remove her from the void. I apologize for any problems this may cause, so please sit tight for a moment. Willham and Shadow Mari will be returning to you shortly.” Everyone turned to look at Mayo, who began to panic once more.

“Remove me? Does that mean I’m going to die? No. No, I can’t die. Not like this! Please! Someone do something!” Mayo’s cries were met with silence as her body began to dissipate into thin air. “Why are you all just standing there? Flash, Hose, Paint, Ore, someone! Help me! No!!!” As Mayo completely fizzled out, her two earrings fell to the ground in silence. Flash walked up to the earrings and picked them up, placing them in her pocket and closing her eyes.

“What’s the matter guys? Are you missing your friends that much?” The beings of the void looked to towards the source of the noise to see Shadow Mari and Willham standing behind them. When everyone locked eyes with her, she shot up into the air and released a burst of Shadow across the void. As the architecture raised from the ground once more, she shot a beam of shadow into Lavasteam’s color vat and redistributed it to the buildings, people, and locale.

The citizens of the void began to celebrate as they ran across the expanse, meeting up with their old friends. As Crawler silently watched the events unfold, he reflected on the fight and the carnage that had ensued. Sensing an opportunity, he walked up to one of the lost Droogles.

“Hey bud, what’s your name?”

“I’m Tomohawk! You must be Crawler, right?”

“Yeah, I am. Say Tomohawk, you don’t wanna die like your friends did, or like Mayo did, or even worse, like Drakon did. You don’t wanna end up like that, right?” Tomohawk began to shake.

“N-no sir, not at all!”

“Well, then, I have the surprise for you! I’m your new boss! Gather all your buddies and follow me!” Tomohawk ran off to the Droogles that were still alive and gathered them in front of Crawler. As the Droogles assembled, Rocko walked over to the monkey in his mech.

“So, what’s all this about?”

“Drakon’s dead and their leader is gone. Might as well give them someone to organize under,” Crawler said meeting Rocko’s eyes. “Plus, Drakon and Dinofrog are really dead, not like your furry friends were. So, when my army shows back up, I’m gonna be in charge. Hope the lot of you can fight back one day!”

“Y’know, we just saved our world from one threat. I don’t think we need a second quite yet.”

“Don’t worry about it kid,” Crawler yelled, beginning to walk away. “I promise it’ll all be pretend, so no real casualties. This Tomohawk kid has some real roleplaying potential. See you around Rocky!” As Crawler and the Droogles began to run towards Vulture, Beta King, and the rats, Rocko returned to his friends, who were now all huddled together.

“So, they’re doing some war roleplay over there. What’s our plan?”

“Well, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I think it’s about time I ascended and didn’t fall back down here,” Alana said, warranting gasps from the rest of the group.

“How come? We only just saved this place, and there’s so much to do here!” Nolan quipped back at her.

“The void is nice and all, but I still want to be known. I want fans and haters, stuff that the void can’t offer.”

“We’ll miss you down here Alana,” Flash said as Alana moved to the center of the group. “We won’t forget your help during that war. You saved all of us from the wrath of the Droogles.”

“My giant buddy helped me out a bit too. Also, I don’t think I’m going to go by Alana up there. Aly has a better ring to it. Plus, if the fans really have seen me talking to Mike, then I’ll be two different characters in their eyes! Twice the love!” Suddenly, Nolan grabbed Aly from behind and hugged her.

“Don’t think you get to leave without a hug from me. And hey, when they start making a new game, or if you get some time off, I better see your ass down here.”

“I promise. Fio, you take care of that pet now, and if you see Hans, tell him I said thanks for the threads!” With her parting words, Aly closed her eyes and began to recite her mantra, rising into the void and disappearing without a trace. Lambert looked down at the dog and back up at Fiora.

“So, what’s its name?”

“I don’t know. I was thinking something cool like Electra or Commander or something.”

“You could also name it something that reminds you of your friends like Mayo or Alana,” Rocko chimed in.

“I’m insulted that you think I ever called Mayo a friend. I knew something was wrong with her from the start.” The group laughed at Fiora’s comment, and they all began to rebound ideas off of each other. “Guys, these are all great ideas, but I’m not gonna name this dude anything sentimental.”

“Then what’ll it be?”

“I’m calling him Sandal.” The group looked at Fiora in bewilderment until they all burst out in laughter.

“Sandal it is then!” Ore chuckled as the group spread out across the vast, populated expanse of the world around them, knowing that they had the ability to conquer any challenge that stood in their way.

* * *

**Two Years Later**

* * *

“You need 7 Stars to progress ..” The Droogle Leader sat by a screen on a tree, shouting the same line at the Hero over and over, possessing Crazy Barks’ body to do so. “You need 7 Stars to progress ..” Eventually, the Hero left Barks’ spot, so the Droogle Leader dropped his microphone. He threw his head back onto a tree when he heard a loud burst of wind from deep in the forest in front of him. He stood up and snuck into the woods, being careful to avoid the gaze of any devs passing by. As he made his way to the source of the noise, he locked eyes with a Raposa in a teal hat and gown with a black cape draped over one of his shoulders. Behind the Raposa was a large machine with the image of a Baki in a S.P.U.D. uniform plastered on its side.

“I heard that there was someone here who could grant me the power of the Shadow. I would like to speak to them please.”

“I’m sorry dude, how did you get in here, and what is that machine?”

“Perhaps you misunderstood,” the Raposa said, firing a beam of color at the Droogle. “Send me to the void, or I’ll make sure no one ever hears from the Droogle race again.”


End file.
